Most Difficult Conversations: Telling employees they smell!

When it comes to difficult conversations with employees, which ones cause the most angst for managers?
Firings? Nope.
Explaining why someone didn’t get a raise? Guess again.
The most dreaded conversation:
Telling an employee that he or she smells!
And the easiest conversation?
Confronting an employee about having inappropriate photos on his or her computer.
In fact, managers don’t mind giving an employee [...]

Are you using the NEW Form I-9 yet?

If you haven’t started using the new Form I-9, better get on the stick. Deadline: Dec. 26, 2007. The Feds have made the first major changes to the form in 20 years. The biggest mistake that most employers make with I-9s – they ask new hires for too much documentation.
Outside its original purpose to control illegal immigration, Form [...]

Boss can’t spell? You’re lucky!

This might explain a few things. More than a third (35% actually) of entrepreneurs identify themselves as dyslexic, says a London professor. That’s staggering when you consider that only 10% of the population is dyslexic.
But it makes sense. The study says dyslexics are:

more likely than nondsylexics to delegate authority since they’re used to getting others [...]

Your next CEO? Women to watch

Interesting report in the Wall Street Journal. The number of women in top corporate jobs (particularly CEOs) has barely budged since 2002. But WSJ’s Top 50 Women to Watch in 2008 indicates that the pipeline of talented women ready for top jobs has grown significantly. Read WSJ’s report to see who they are.

The worst employees of 2007: Can you top ‘em?

What’s the worst thing one of your employees has done? Can you top this list from Careerbuilder?

Bank employees forgot a 73-year old woman was checking her safe deposit box and locked the building and went home. She was found by a cleaning person later that night.
The postal carrier that was stealing money from birthday cards, [...]

Flying high – and IMing all the way

Not sure if this is good news or bad news. Starting next week, business travelers on JetBlue will be able to e-mail and IM in flight, reports the N.Y. Times. The No Bull Blog thinks most of us are too connected. We spend too much time “communicating” and not enough contemplating. But for execs who can’t survive a couple [...]

Incentives for wellness: It pays

The idea of paying to encourage employees to do the healthy thing can be hard to swallow. But it works. More and more companies are adding financial incentives to get employees to adopt healthier lifestyles – and the payoff is nothing to sneeze at. A Watson Wyatt survey says companies with such incentive programs generate [...]

Be ready: Key Federal tax deadlines for 1099s

These are some of the key filing deadlines companies need to meet for the 1099-MISC and related forms:

January 31, 2008 – companies must mail 1099s to payees.
February 28, 2008 – paper or magnetic media 1099s and W-2s must be mailed.
March 15, 2008 -1042-Ss are due to IRS, regardless of which filing method companies use.
March 31, [...]

Form I-9: Helpful Spanish translation available

The new Form I-9, which every employer must start using no later than Dec. 26, 2007, doesn’t have a version in Spanish – at least not one U.S. employers can file. But if you regularly hire Spanish-speaking employees, you might want to try this:
The new Form I-9 is available in Spanish for employers in Puerto [...]

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